Sorry for the length....
Not to toot my own horn, but I worked for Birks Jewelers for, well, a while, a very good while. While there I received a pretty extensive education on diamonds and other gems. For I while, I was working on become a gemologist.
Anyways, no matter what ANYONE tells you (unless they are agreeing with me
) CUT is EVERYTHING. To be frank, you can have a ‘crummy’ diamond, poor colour, flawed up to wazoo, but if the cut is great, none of that matters. It’s kinda of like love. It doesn’t matter if the one you love chews with their mouth open, or has smelly farts – you love them because they are beautiful to you. Cut is like that, only beautiful to everyone.
Next off, don’t be sold on (I’m assuming that you are getting a round diamond) cuts with more facets. Some companies claim that the more facets, the more sparkle. If this was true, the entire industry would be doing it. That said if you can ‘see’ a difference – and it makes you happy - then go for it.
Lastly, and second most importantly, don’t listen to “it’s a (any given jeweler)’s ‘good’ cut”. I don’t care how big you think you are, you have no right to claim what a ‘good’ cut is. Look for diamonds that have an AGS certificate with them. Some jewelers don’t provide the certs, but the diamonds are AGS graded – Birks, for example does this.
Having rambled on, I have a great deal of trust in Spence Diamonds, and the utmost esteem for Birks. Quite frankly, Birks ain’t cheep (they sell everything for EXACTLY what’s it worth, not a penny less) but they are the best, with out question. They have higher diamond standards than Tiffany’s. You get a Birks diamond if you are shopping
with out compromise. If nothing but they very best will do. Not just in the stone, but in the over all construction of the ring itself. Birks gets FIRST crack at ALL the diamonds cut and mined in Canada. They take near 90% of the AGS 0-1 cut stones. That’s 10% left for the rest of the world
Costco isn’t a bad offer. They are (in Edmonton at least – at least back then) one of only two place that is GIA certified (Birks being the other). The thing with Costco (albeit less expensive) is selection is limited (which can/may not be a problem) as well, you never know the history of the item you are buying. I will elaborate. High end Swiss watches are ALL serial numbered. And you have to be a jeweler of a certain caliber to be able to sell certain brands. Well, Costco is not of that caliber. Well, they still sell watches like Omega. Guess, what, no serial numbers on the watches – filed off. So where did the watch come from if not Omega? This may or may not bother you. You cannot get a watch serviced if it’s missing the serial numbers by the manufacture. Fortunately, diamonds do not need to be serviced.
They best advice I can possibly offer you is to shop, shop and shop around. Forget numbers and sales pitches. There is no one magical place to get ‘em – you just have to find the one that sings to you. When it’s really the right ring, like the right person, you will just know.
Hope this helps.
-Pauli